When serendipity drops Halloween on a Black Metal Friday in your lap, how can you help but think of the song “Halloween”?

King Diamond, both with Mercyful Fate and his own eponymous solo band, helped form both the black metal and thrash genres. Kim Bendix Petersen, the man behind the King Diamond persona, was one of the first true Satanists in heavy metal. Many acts had previously used occult imagery and satanism in a somewhat cartoonish fashion, but the King walked the walk and talked the talk. He has been very open about being a devout follower of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan. All of this lent a certain authenticity to King Diamond’s macabre, occult-fueled imagery and stage show — a show that I have the great fortune of witnessing tonight at The Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. Look for my coverage of that event right here on Geeks of Doom.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of the day, here is King Diamond from his first solo album, 1986’s Fatal Portrait with the track “Halloween.”